back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 51
Time flies by, and three days are but a blink of an eye.This day is the second day of March, which is the time for the palace examination.

Early in the morning, before dawn, the sky was still full of stars, and the candidates who participated in the palace test got up and went to the palace.Su Shi was also woken up by the book boy early in the morning. In fact, he suffered from insomnia almost all night, and only squinted his eyes at the end.This is the first palace exam in life, and it may also be the last time. With such excitement, how can I sleep?

The book boy gave Su Shi a number to wear close to his body. Without this number, he would definitely not be able to enter the palace.After the book boy sent Su Shi to the gate of the imperial palace and handed over the pre-prepared test basket to Su Shi, Su Shi was about to enter the palace for the exam alone.The Dashun Dynasty used a three-level examination system, the split examination (township examination), the provincial examination and the palace examination. Regardless of how well the previous examinations were performed at each level, whether or not one could become an official finally depended on the results of the palace examination.Don't think that you can become an official 100% after taking part in the palace examination, and there are not a few scholars who were deposed in the palace examination.

Candidates lined up and entered the gate of the hall according to their numbers. After checking their identity and confirming that they were not entrained, they were guided into the Jiying Hall by the servants.A mixed picture hangs outside the Jiying Hall, which is actually the seat number. Candidates look for their positions in the mixed picture according to the information on the test number.After sitting down one by one, there were still emperors who went to court to introduce Shengyuan.But Lu Chengqi thought it was disrespectful to other candidates, so he didn't do this, after all, there was no routine on this day.

After the candidates were seated, the middle officials selected by the Ministry of Officials began to distribute the examination questions.Candidates do not understand the topic, you can also ask the examiner.However, it should be noted that the test paper will not be accepted if there are marks or other non-destructive parts on the test paper.

The topic of this imperial examination was drawn up by Lu Chengqi himself.Regardless of the subject, it is a topic: "Try to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the annexation of land by high-ranking officials and gentry." The sentence is almost vernacular, but it directly points to the most serious topic at present, but no one dares to discuss it.Only Lu Chengqi has such courage. He needs to use a shocking question to identify those who are truly talented and have a long-term vision.

It's just that this one-size-fits-all approach is unavoidable for some candidates, especially those who are counting subjects.Lu Chengqi also has a supplementary plan, and these arithmetic talents will be reserved for reuse.Anyway, he is so demanding on data, no matter how many arithmetic talents there are, it is not too much.What's more, this time only a few dozen people applied for the mathematics subject, even if all of them were hired, it would only be a drop in the bucket for Lu Chengqi's plan.

Here I have to say that Chinese people are obsessed with official positions. Even if Lu Chengqi halved the official salary and included it in the pension, nearly ten thousand people still came to take the test.It's a pity that this imperial examination really selects people with real talents and real learning. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge.Lu Chengqi also specifically stipulated that the number of candidates should not exceed 300.This is also for fear of embarking on the old path of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty.Even if the country has more taxes, there are hundreds of thousands of officials, large and small, which is too much for a country.Adding the so-called millions of troops, this is redundant troops; excessive administrative expenses, this is redundant waste.Most of the money in the Song Dynasty was spent on this. In addition to the serious land annexation, the root of the country's subjugation has been buried.

In Lu Chengqi's grand plan, the first thing is to get rid of the bad government. Redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses must not be relaxed. Only by streamlining the army and streamlining the administration can the government be kept safe.The biggest problem, however, is land.

It has been nearly a hundred years since the founding of the Dashun Dynasty.The original land equalization system has been destroyed in sevens and eighties, and a large amount of land has been annexed by dignitaries and country gentry.If the harvest year is good, these landlords will treat their tenant farmers better.If it was a disaster year, the tenant farmers who had no land under them might really have to sell themselves into slavery, or change their sons to eat.

Lu Chengqi always believes that land conflicts are the main factor for the change of dynasties in China. The reason is the selfish nature of people and the small peasant economy in ancient China. Without consumption, land is the greatest property.

To completely change this situation, Lu Chengqi has two immature plans.One is to change the land policy and set up a land tax. The more land there is, the more taxes have to be paid. If a family owns more than [-] mu of land, it will start paying back money; The spare money for land purchases was released, driving the development of commerce, making the emergence of capitalism in the Dashun Dynasty, and even entering the era of capitalism.It's a pity that these two ideas are just ideas. The land is the foundation of the world, and if one is not careful, it will be self-defeating and cause turmoil in the world.If those squires gather together to fight against the imperial power, it will be a force not to be underestimated.The throne has been overthrown, so Lu Chengqi has nothing to play with, maybe his wealth and life will be lost.

At this moment, Lu Chengqi turned into an arresting officer again, and went around the Hall of Yingying in official uniform, checking his scholar's answer sheet by the way.Among these people, he found two acquaintances.One is Su Shi, a great talent, and the other is Yang Hong, the former grand master's son.He deliberately checked the answer sheets of the two, and found that their visions were extremely similar, and they both pointed out the dangers of land annexation and proposed some feasible solutions.It's a pity that this is just a drop in the bucket and cannot achieve the purpose of a radical cure.Lu Chengqi shook his head secretly, and said to himself: "It is said that the classes are different, but it is still a class contradiction! After these candidates became Juren, they have already become the landlord class. How can they hand over their lives to others? It seems that they are still It has to be guided by commerce..."

Lu Chengqi checked the examination room again, and there was another examinee who was quite interested. He used statistical data to explain the harm of land annexation, as well as examples of wealthy households being rich and unkind, which made Lu Chengqi quite interested in his paper.Looking at his examination number again, it turned out that it was a province of mathematics, Lu Chengqi was taken aback, and thought: "People who study mathematics, do they have such a vision?"

It's a pity that this person has no theory and didn't propose a solution, which made Lu Chengqi feel a bit underestimated.However, compared to most people in the palace examination, this person's answer sheet is already considered excellent.The rest are just boasting from a historical point of view, talking about the benefits of the well field system in the Zhou Dynasty, so that Lu Chengqi seems to have seen Fang Xiaoru in the Jianwen period of the Ming Dynasty, and only boasted about the literati ruling the country in his mind, restoring Zhou rituals, and restoring the well field system.Kong has a strong character, but no practical talent.In Lu Chengqi's heart, they have been dethroned.

After inspecting the examination room for a while, Lu Chengqi had an idea, and then walked out.He already had a bold idea in his mind, and he wanted to implement it as soon as possible.

As soon as Lu Chengqi went out, Yang Hong raised his head, looked at Lu Chengqi's retreating back, looked thoughtful, and said in his heart: "Dad is right, the little emperor has great ambitions, forward vision, and is down-to-earth in doing things." If this goes on like this, he has the majestic appearance of an emperor through the ages. My father was defeated by his greed for power, and he repeatedly warned me not to seize power, but to follow the little emperor's will. My father is very accurate in judging people, so I can't be wrong. Anyway, I Yang Isn't Hong what he has studied for many years also for the purpose of selling goods to the emperor?"

The palace examination requires an essay of more than a thousand words.In ancient times, writing with a brush was not fast, and it took many scholars a whole day to write a single composition.After all the papers were handed in, Guan Feng Mi pasted his name on them, checked the transcription for errors with the readers, and then handed over the papers to the primary examiners and re-examiners for review.In the end, the ranking officer will determine the ranking of the test papers, and Lu Chengqi will hand over the top three with his own pen, or he will be dismissed.Only one palace test can be considered as a complete conclusion.

(End of this chapter)